Each weekday on this blog you will find an episode of a western short story featuring Rance Dehner, a detective who operates in the old West. When the story concludes, it will be archived for those readers who prefer to read a story from start to finish.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

An
exchange of shots came from within the house as the two men circled around to
the back. The back of the house had one window. As Streeter had indicated, the
window was large. The curtains were open and the glass shattered. Dehner peered
inside while Curt Weldon checked the other side of the house.

Episode Nine

After
a few moments, the deputy returned, crouching near the window. “What do you
see?”

The
detective took another quick look, then flattened himself against the house before
answering. “The only light comes from a lamp on a table by the front window.
There are two bodies on the floor. Neither of them is Streeter. There’s a
bureau pulled out from the wall near the front door, with a gunman behind it. Streeter
is in the kitchen. He wants to cross the floor to get to what is probably the
bedroom. In all likelihood, that is where Carrie Whiting is being held. The
jasper behind the bureau is preventing that. Neither man has been able to take
down the other. They are both trapped where they are.”

Weldon
nodded his head. “The window on the other side of the house is boarded up.
That’s where they have the girl, all right.”

Dehner
stepped away from the back window. “I’m going around and enter the house by the
front door. Pay a surprise visit on our friend behind the bureau.”

“Why?
One of us could smoke him from here.”

Another
volley of shots sounded from inside the house. Dehner wondered how much ammo
each man had left. “I want to take at least one man alive. That owlhoot I tied
up is hanging by a thread. He could be dead now.”

“What’s
the big deal about takin’ a prisoner? These jaspers are real snakes.”

The
two men exchanged nods as Curt Weldon took a position by the window and Dehner
scooted around to the front of the house. As he carefully stepped onto the
front porch the detective realized he had to keep low. When Tal Streeter saw a
man coming through the door, he would naturally assume it was one of the
outlaws.

Gun
in hand, the detective crouched down on the porch and opened the front door. He
was now only a few feet from a bald headed outlaw whose entire body pivoted
quickly to greet the newcomer.

“Drop
the gun.” Dehner ordered.

“I
was about to say the same thing to you, stranger.” The gunman pointed his six
shooter directly at Dehner. “I guess we got us what they call a stand off.”

The Posse

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Bio

As a kid, I idolized Hopalong Cassidy, which was the most intelligent choice I made during my first thirty years. Much of my professional life has been spent as a literary agent, but I also wrote westerns to prove I didn’t always have to live off the work of other people.
I can now devote myself full time to writing in a genre I love. I’m being a straight shooter when I say your opinion is important to me. When you have a moment, let me know what you think about Wild West Detective. Alas, the western genre has been riding over some tough territory for several decades. I hope this site can bring new folks into the corral and give them a taste of the fun that the western has given me.
jamesclay20@gmail.com